Recently Played

TLDR

Designed a Spotify product concept that adds a recently played tracks view, solving the frustration of missing a song from shuffle before you had the chance to save it.

Context

For years I had experienced the same frustration while listening to Spotify's shuffled playlists. A song would play that I loved, but by the time I realized I wanted to look it up, the track had already ended and there was no easy way to find it again. Discovering that other platforms offered a recently played view made the absence of this feature on Spotify even more surprising.

I decided to explore what a simple and intuitive recently played interface could look like within Spotify's existing visual language.

Process

I researched how other streaming platforms handled recently played history and found that similar features existed elsewhere in the market, which reinforced the case for adding it to Spotify. I explored what the minimal version of this feature would look like within Spotify's existing visual language, focusing on keeping it lightweight and quick to access without cluttering the core navigation. I then created wireframes showing how users could revisit tracks that had played moments earlier without interrupting the flow of music discovery.

Outcome

The concept demonstrates how Spotify could strengthen its mission as a platform for exploration by making it easier to act on spontaneous discovery. Even small design additions like this can have an outsized impact on how users interact with a product, reducing the gap between hearing something interesting and saving it for later.